We are dealers of Alcorn and like they say you get what you pay for... If you have the money I would highly recommend the 8-TraXX player, 8 stereo or 16 mono tracks all from one compact flash card... Bundle it with some powered speakers, or the AmpTraXX and some speakers and you have a great system. Feel free to contact us for a quote!
Best,
Bill Rodwww.darktecheffects.com

I do the same as imax. As an audio engineer and technician from theater and rock and roll (roadie for many years) I am very comfortable with audio consoles and have been using mine in the same fashion as imax. Although I believe there is a need for something better and I plan on building that hopefully this year. I would be interested in everyones feedback as to requirements for the interfaces needed, keeping in mind the speakers you use, and any otehr unique capabilities that would be beneficial to running your haunt from a control room rather than having controllers and CD players in every room.

Just reading this thread, gets the ideas rolling. It sounds like you guys have got it together.

We like to use many layers of sound. We start with a 70v system with speakers that vary anywhere from 10 to 60 watts. I call this the first layer, it usually runs throughout the haunt from beginning to end. I like to use whispers, or backward masking or a combination of both. In the case of my outdoor haunt this sound track has banjo music in the distance and crickets and animals layered. Whatever I decide to use, it has a rhythm to it, almost hypnotic. Sometimes I supplement this layer with subs. Favorite gear for this duty: a combination of cheap speakers for 30 watts and less and Atlas speakers for everything else.

The next layer would be PA speakers that cover the whole building or in the case of our outdoor haunt, stadium speakers. This layer consists of nothing but Sound FX. The sound FX are intermittent but very loud. The more power the better. I usually do not buy a speaker for this duty that is rated for less than 300 watts. I don't know the rating of the stadium speakers, but I put 1200 watts through each at 4ohm and have no problems. The key is to keep it intermittent so that they don't get desensatized to it, and to keep the customers a safe distance from the speaker. This is a great place to incorporate crazy stereo or Doppler effects. Eventually I will do 5.1. In certain areas we add subs and transducers to really pull them in.
Favorite gear for this duty: Peavey black widows, EV's and Atlas stadium speakers. Favorite amps Crown. Mackies can be picked up on the cheap when buying used but are disposable.

Some rooms have thier own distinct soundtrack like flies in a kitchen, or babies crying in a nursery. I usually just throw in a cheap mp3 player and a powered speaker. I have used high dollar powered speakers and cheap ones, still haven't made up my mind what is the best route to take.

We also have actors with headsets plugged into FX processors to interact with the customers. Have used shure mics and cheap mics careless actors break them at about the same rate.